Apple repurposes Digital Crown double-click in watchOS 27, removing app-switch shortcut

Apple released watchOS 27 on September 14, and Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 will receive Live Rewind when those models ship on September 18.

Live Rewind produces a transcript of spoken audio captured by the device in the last 15 seconds and is triggered by double-clicking the Digital Crown on compatible watches.

In watchOS 26 the Digital Crown double-click switched between the current app and the previously used app (or between the watch face and the last app). After updating to watchOS 27 that double-click no longer switches apps: on updated watches it only brings up the dynamic app grid, a function already available with a single click.

As a result, owners of older Apple Watch models who install watchOS 27 lose the app-switch shortcut, while the new Live Rewind capability remains hardware-limited to Series 12 and Ultra 4.

Apple has not provided a user option to reassign the double-click action or to restore the prior app-switch behavior, nor has the company announced any schedule for addressing the change in a future watchOS update.